Coasters are often used under the legs of a piece of furniture to act as a buffer between the legs and the floor on which the piece of furniture rests. Typically, coasters take the form of glass or rubber discs having flat bottoms that rest on the floor. By positioning the coasters between the furniture legs and the floor, the weight of the furniture leg is dispersed over a larger area such that the furniture leg does not scratch or mar the floor when the piece of furniture is moved or leave a depression in the floor when the piece of furniture remains in one place for an extended period of time.
In addition, furniture glides or sliders have been developed that are also positioned between the legs of a piece of furniture and the carpeting on which the piece of furniture rests. By way of example, Bushey, U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,705 discloses a furniture glide that facilitates the movement of a piece of furniture on carpeted and bare floors. The furniture glide includes a convo-convex disc having an arcuate convex lower surface, a concave upper surface defining a central cavity, and resilient pad fixed to the disc upper surface within the central cavity below the edge thereof. Adhesive is provided for securing the resilient pad to the bottom of the piece of furniture or to the leg of the piece of furniture.
While functional for their intended purpose, these prior art furniture glides have certain limitations. More specifically, these prior furniture glides are designed for mounting onto the bottoms of pieces of furniture or on the legs thereof. As a result, the furniture glides do not fit properly on pieces of furniture that are fabricated using tubular frames, such as office chairs and the like. Further, repeated movement of a piece of furniture along a floor may cause the furniture glide to become detached from the bottom of the piece of furniture. As a result, the furniture glide may become separated from the piece of furniture such that the bottom of the piece of furniture may engage and damage the flooring.
In order to cover these deficiencies, furniture glides have been developed which are intended to be securely retained on a tubular frame of a piece of furniture. By way of example, Bushey, U.S. Pat. No. 7,237,302 discloses a furniture glide having an inner surface for engaging a bottom of a tubular leg of a piece of furniture and an outer surface for engaging a supporting surface. First and second sidewalls project from opposite sides of the base and have inner surfaces for engaging opposite sides of the leg of the piece of furniture. Each sidewall is pivotable between a first storage position wherein the sidewall is spaced from a corresponding side of the leg and a second operating position wherein the sidewall is in engagement with the corresponding side of the leg. It is noted that the furniture glide disclosed in the '302 patent incorporates slits in the sidewalls thereof to facilitate the wrapping of the sidewalls of the furniture glide about the outer periphery of a tubular leg of a piece of furniture. These slits, in turn, increase the production cost of the furniture glide. In addition, given the slits in the sidewalls and the thin felt material from which the furniture glide is fabricated, the durability of the furniture glide disclosed in the '302 patent can be somewhat limited.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide a furniture glide that may be securely retained on a tubular frame of a piece of furniture.
It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide a furniture glide that is inexpensive to manufacture and simple to utilize.
It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a furniture glide that is more securely retained on the leg of a piece of furniture than prior furniture glides.
It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a furniture glide that is more durable than prior furniture glides.
According to one embodiment of the invention, a furniture glide for mounting to a leg of a piece of furniture includes a flexible furniture engaging layer, a cushion layer, and a floor engaging layer. The furniture engaging layer includes a first surface engageable with the furniture and a second surface. The cushion layer includes a first surface, operatively connected to the second surface of the furniture engaging layer, and a second surface. The cushion layer extends over at least a portion of the second surface of the furniture engaging layer. The floor engaging layer has a first surface, operatively connected to the second surface of the cushion layer, and a second surface for engagement with a supporting surface.
According to another aspect of the invention, each of the cushion layer and the furniture engaging layer have melting points. The melting point of the cushion layer is less than the melting point of the furniture engaging layer. A first portion of the cushion layer is melted to the furniture engaging layer.
According to still another aspect of the invention, the furniture engaging layer includes a first side portion, extending along a longitudinal axis; a second side portion, extending generally opposite from the first side portion along the longitudinal axis; and an intermediate portion, defined between the first side portion and the second side portion. In addition, the first and second side portions may wrap around the leg of the piece of furniture. The first portion of the first surface is generally concave to engage the leg of the piece of furniture. An adhesive layer may also be applied to the first surface of the furniture engaging layer.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a furniture glide for mounting to a leg of a piece of furniture includes a floor engaging layer, a cushion layer, and a furniture engaging layer. The floor engaging layer has a first side, a second side, an inner surface, an outer surface, and a thickness. The cushion layer has a first surface and a second surface bonded to the inner surface of the floor engaging layer. The furniture engaging layer has a first surface; a second surface bonded to the first surface of the cushion layer; a first side portion, extending beyond the first side of the floor engaging layer; a second side portion, extending beyond the second side of the floor engaging layer; and a thickness. The thickness of the furniture engaging layer is less than the thickness of the floor engaging layer.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, a furniture glide for mounting to a leg of a piece of furniture includes a furniture engaging layer, a cushion layer, and a floor engaging layer. The furniture engaging layer has a first side portion, a second side portion opposite the first side portion, an intermediate portion defined between the first and second side portions, an inner surface engageable with a bottom of the leg of the piece of furniture, and an outer surface. The cushion layer is bonded to the furniture engaging layer and has an inner and outer surface. The floor engaging layer has an inner surface, an outer surface, a first side, and a second side. The outer surface of the floor engaging layer extends between the first and the second sides, is generally planar, and is configured to engage a supporting surface. The first and second side portions of the floor engaging layer are movable between a first storage configuration and a second operating configuration. In the storage configuration, the inner surfaces of the first and second side portions are generally co-planer with the inner surface of the intermediate portion. In the operating configuration, the first and second side portions are in engagement with the leg.